


Two Souls In A Fishbowl

by FollowTheFirefly



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Inspired by Music, M/M, Married Couple, Title from a Pink Floyd song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 06:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16080488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FollowTheFirefly/pseuds/FollowTheFirefly
Summary: In which Tsukishima is stuck at a conference over Christmas and Skypes Yamaguchi.





	Two Souls In A Fishbowl

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea a few years ago, but only wrote it down recently. I actually listen to Pink Floyd on a regular basis, so this seemed like the obvious song to use.

As much as Kei liked his job, he really was getting tired of the random conventions and meetings when classes weren’t in session. It was bad enough that they had conferences during the school year, but when the new director for the school board was elected a few years prior, all of the pointless changes started to take place. The standardized tests that proved nothing, the mandatory classes that didn’t teach anything that students actually needed in the real world, all of the self-promotion from the after-school activities. 

Kei hated being forced to teach his students the way the new director wanted them to be taught. He knew all of the tests and reports didn’t show how bright they were, how they enjoyed picking out the little details of the stories they read in class. They didn’t show how they enjoyed writing stories of their own, how much they enjoyed learning when they weren’t being forced to memorize nonsensical information and when they could take the classes they were interested in. Kei was even helping a few of his students outside of class, instructing them how to hone their skills so they could go to university to become journalists. 

That was what he enjoyed about teaching. Not so much the tests, conferences, endless student reports and performance reviews every month.

“It’s not like a lot is going to change about that, anyway,” Kei groaned, trying to hold back a yawn as he stepped off the bus in front of his hotel.

He took a few seconds to go through his bag, making sure he had his books, notes, and other materials before he dashed into the warmth of the hotel, desperate to escape the bitter winter cold. Stopping short just inside the lobby, Kei glanced around, noticing how many other teachers from the convention were staying at the same hotel. Most of them were middle-aged at the earliest, making Kei one of the younger teachers there. He hadn’t been teaching long, but he’d already built a reputation at his school for making his students read short stories and novels more risqué than the principal preferred. 

“They want to be challenged,” Kei had said one day at a teacher’s meeting after school. “They actually enjoy the things we read in class. So I’m going to let them read what the school board considers ‘dangerous books’ because despite what you think, it does some good to challenge younger minds. And I’m sorry, but if you try to ban ‘Fahrenheit 451’, then you’ve completely missed the point of the entire novel and are beyond help.”

He knew he’d crossed a line, but he’d meant every word that he said. It didn’t stop the principal from giving him a lecture after the meeting was over, but he was allowed to continue teaching challenged novels and stories on the condition that the students didn’t act out based on the texts’ content.

Kei brought his focus back to the hotel lobby, watching the people bustling through brace themselves for the cold outside. A few of them were carrying shopping bags and humming along to the Christmas carols that played on the radio.

“And why did this have to start three days before Christmas?” Kei was tired of seeing Christmas trees and hearing the music everywhere. 

Ignoring an elderly couple in a shouting match with the concierge at the front desk, he made his way to the elevators, taking off his gloves and shoving into one of the pockets of his coat. After riding the elevator up to the fourth floor, he stepped out and paused just outside the doors, listening for any sign that the people staying in the room next door were there. They had stayed up until nearly five in the morning partying the night before, despite Kei pounding on the wall every few minutes. Apparently others on the hall were irritated by their antics, as the hotel management came up at least three times before their wild activities came to an end as the sun was coming up.

“We’re not in college anymore,” Kei made his way down the hall, satisfied that they weren’t in the room. “How can anyone possibly be that ridiculous?”

He reached into his pocket for the key card and waved it over the card reader, waiting for the red light to turn green before he turned the handle and opened the door to the room he’d occupied for the past few days. He kicked off his shoes, nudging them to the corner with his foot, before grabbing his lounging clothes, as Tadashi called them, from the suitcase on the bed. He stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower, hoping the hot water would warm him up a little bit.

Twenty minutes later found Kei lying on the bed, TV on in the background displaying a broadcast from one of the local news stations. Kei had found one of the few books he could still call a pleasure read anymore and was sipping on some tea that Tadashi had stashed into his backpack before he’d left.

He was about to start a new chapter of his book when his phone vibrated next to him on the bed. Reaching a hand to it, Kei saw a message from Tadashi that consisted of a single word.

“Skype?”

Kei grinned, typing his response before he jumped off the bed and grabbed his computer bag from the other end of the room. He plugged his laptop into the power outlet by the lamp near the bed and turned it on, sitting down on the bed and drumming his fingers against his knee as the computer slowly came to life. It wasn’t long before he was typing in his password and logging on to the video site. Tadashi was in the chatroom, looking bored as he waited for Kei to sign on.

“You’re here!” Tadashi exclaimed, jumping a little in surprise when Kei logged in. 

“I am,” Kei smiled. “Happy almost Christmas.”

“Happy almost Christmas,” Tadashi repeated. “Though I think most people call it Christmas Eve.”

“Since when are we most people?” Kei queried.

“Still, it sucks that you can’t actually be here for the holiday,” Tadashi crossed his arms in front of his chest. “It’s our first Christmas together, after all.”

“Technically that was when we were eight,” Kei corrected him. “And we didn’t start dating until we were seventeen.”

“But we got married this year, so that makes it our first Christmas,” Tadashi said.

“Well, if you look at it that way,” Kei shrugged. 

“So mean,” Tadashi gave Kei a condescending look. 

“Hey, you’re the one that married me, remember?” Kei grinned deviously. “You know, people keep asking me why I didn’t bring my wife with me to this damn conference.” 

“What did you say?” Tadashi leaned forward.

“Oh man, I had this great conversation with this older chemistry teacher,” Kei leaned back against the headboard of the bed, moving the computer to his lap. “I told him I didn’t have one. And he says, ‘But you’re wearing a ring, aren’t you?’ and I say, ‘Yes’”. He moved the tea mug on the end table a little closer to the lamp. “It’s like he couldn’t comprehend that I married a guy instead of a girl.”

“Did he say anything to that?” Tadashi asked.

“Didn’t get a chance to,” Kei shook his head, reaching for his tea again. “Kuroo and Bokuto showed up and ambushed me.”

“You didn’t tell me Bo and Kuroo were there!” Tadashi exclaimed, surprised by this new information.

“They only had to be here the one day, though I can’t imagine why,” Kei glared into his tea.

“Is that your mug?” Tadashi had apparently noticed. “I thought I lost it when I was doing the dishes.”  
“Brought it with me,” Kei held up the mug for Tadashi to see.

“I sort of wish I could be there with you,” Tadashi rested his chin in the palm of his hand. “It’s boring over here since most of my clients are away.”

“I think you’re forgetting the fact that your clients are cats and dogs,” Kei reminded him.

“They’re still clients,” Tadashi asserted. 

“It’s boring up here, too,” Kei sipped at his tea. “And no offense, but you wouldn’t understand any of this stuff.”

“You went to that vet conference with me and you didn’t understand it,” Tadashi retorted. 

“Because you brought Minerva for a demonstration and you needed me to help keep her calm,” Kei reminded him. “You were instructing the interns and needed someone to make sure she didn’t do anything she wasn’t supposed to.”

“Oh yeah, I’d forgotten that,” Tadashi said slowly. “But still, it’s not like you know anyone else to talk to over there besides Bo and Kuroo.”

“I did see Sayuri-chan earlier today,” Kei said. “But she’s not staying the whole time, either.”

“How is it that not everyone has to stay the entire time?” Tadashi wondered. “That doesn’t make much sense.” 

“I think different schools have different requirements,” Kei assumed. “And the one I teach for makes us stay the whole time.”

“Have you done your presentation yet?” Tadashi asked.

“No, that’s tomorrow,” Kei shook his head. “On Christmas, of all things.”

“Oh, I should let you go to bed so you can be rested,” Tadashi said quickly. 

“That’s okay, I’m sure it’ll be easy,” Kei said with a wave of his hand. “Mine is mostly discussion based, anyway.”

“Think many people will show up?” Tadashi asked.

“I haven’t met many other English literature teachers here, but you can go to presentations for any subject.” Kei adjusted the monitor of the laptop. “I went to one of the history ones and Kyosuke and I both went to one of the math ones and he teaches music.”

“What a weird system,” Tadashi mused.

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense to any of us, either,” Kei shrugged. “Kyosuke’s going to my presentation since I went to his yesterday.” He drank some more of his tea. “We all just want to go home.”

“No one wants to be away from their families on the holidays.” Tadashi nodded. “But we’re still going to see your parents and Akiteru-kun, right?”

“I think they’d be very upset if we didn’t show up,” Kei replied, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“Your brother called last night to make sure and I said I’d have to talk to you about it,” Tadashi said. “He kept offering to come over, for some reason.” 

“Maybe he thought you would be lonely without me there?” Kei thought.

“I mean, I’ve been listening to Pink Floyd a bit,” Tadashi said offhandedly. 

“But you hate Pink Floyd.” Kei wasn’t sure why he was reminding Tadashi of this fact.

“You always play Pink Floyd when you’re grading papers and working on assignments. I’m sort of used to hearing it,” Tadashi said. “I didn’t know how much I’d miss hearing music from the work room until I didn’t hear it.”

“That’s actually pretty sweet, Tadashi,” Kei was struggling to find the right words.

“I just miss you, okay?” Tadashi was blushing furiously and he looked down at something away from the computer monitor. “You had that meeting series for a week and then two days later, you’re on a plane to Tokyo. I feel like I’ve barely seen you at all.” He paused before he added, “Though I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty weird to listen to Pink Floyd as comfort music, if you can call it that.”

“I just can’t believe you’re actually listening to it.” Kei stared at Tadashi.

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to them on a regular basis,” Tadashi retorted. “Some of it isn’t half bad, though.”

“Which ones do you like?” Kei was genuinely curious.

“I usually find myself listening to ‘Wish You Were Here’ the most,” Tadashi said.

“You’re adorable, Tadashi,” Kei smiled. “You do know that, right?”

“Well, it has a nice melody to it,” Tadashi said, fidgeting with the wireless mouse near his computer. “And it doesn’t sound weird like the others.”

“Hey, ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ doesn’t sound weird,” Kei said, restarting a frequent debate he had with Tadashi. 

“It sounds like they’re smashing random keys on a keyboard and adding a synth and calling it music,” Tadashi said. “Then again, a lot of your music sounds like that.” He paused before he said, “It’s pretty refreshing to hear it around the house now.”

“So when I get back and start playing ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, you can’t complain.” Kei told him.

“Oh, I’m still going to complain like there’s no tomorrow,” Tadashi informed him. “Just like I always do.”

“At least ‘Wish You Were Here’ has somewhat normal lyrics,” Kei commented.

“We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl,” Kei knew Tadashi was quoting the lyrics. 

“But we’re not lost souls,” Kei told him. “And we certainly don’t live in a fishbowl.”

“You have those two tanks in the living room,” Tadashi reminded him. “They serve the same purpose.”

“I have two seventy-five gallon tanks. And only one is in the living room.” Kei corrected. “The other is in the kitchen, remember?”

“You have the most spoiled bettas ever,” Tadashi said with a smile.

“Hey, they’re happy in there and you know it,” Kei said.

“They should be with the way you keep those tanks spotless,” Tadashi said.

“At least I remember to clean them,” Kei said. “Otherwise it would be so dirty that poor Minerva wouldn’t be able to see the fish.”

“She misses you, you know.” Tadashi leaned forward to brush something away from the computer monitor. “She’s been sleeping on your pillow the last few nights.”

“Has she really?” Kei wasn’t surprised since the cat followed him around the apartment all the time.

“And I miss you,” Tadashi gave him a sad smile.

“I miss you, too,” Kei echoed. He looked at the clock on his computer and said, “I should probably go get some sleep soon.”

“Yeah, you need your rest,” Tadashi nodded. “So good night, good luck, I’ll call you tomorrow night, and I love you and all that.”

“Love you too, Tadashi,” Kei said back. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

The video feed went black as Tadashi signed off. Kei sighed, powering down the computer and moving it back to the back on the floor at the foot of the bed.

“How I wish you were here,” Kei said to himself and as he started to set up his presentation notes for the next day, he couldn’t help but hear guitar chords playing in his head.


End file.
